Morrie Turner

Turner was raised in Oakland, California, the youngest child of a Pullman porter father and a homemaker and nurse mother.[1][2] He attended Cole Elementary School and McClymonds High School in Oakland and Berkeley High School.[3][4]

Turner got his first training in cartooning via a correspondence course.[5] During World War II, where he served as a mechanic with Tuskegee Airmen,[1] his illustrations appeared in the newspaper Stars and Stripes. After the war, while working for the Oakland Police Department, he created the comic strip Baker's Helper.[6]

When Turner began questioning why there were no minorities in cartoons, his mentor, Peanuts cartoonist Charles M. Schulz, suggested he create one.[7] Morris' first attempt, Dinky Fellas, featured an all-black cast, but found publication in only one newspaper, the Chicago Defender.[8] Turner integrated the strip, renaming it Wee Pals, and in 1965 it became the first American syndicated comic strip to have a cast of diverse ethnicity.[1] Although the strip was only originally carried by five newspapers, it was picked up by more than 100 after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in April 1968.[9]

In 1970 Turner became a co-chairman of the White House Conference on Children and Youth.[2]

Turner appeared as a guest on the May 14, 1973, episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, where he showed the host pictures he had drawn of several of his neighbors. Turner also presented a clip from his Kid Power animated series, which was airing Saturday mornings on ABC at the time. As well, during the 1972-73 television season, Wee Pals on the Go was aired by ABC's owned-and-operated station in San Francisco, KGO-TV. This Sunday morning show featured child actors who portrayed the main characters of Turner's comic strip: Nipper, Randy, Sybil, Connie and Oliver. With and through the kids, Turner explored venues, activities and objects such as a candy factory and a train locomotive.

As the comic strip continued, Turner added characters of more and more ethnicities, as well as a child with a physical disability.

During the Vietnam War, Turner and five other members of the National Cartoonist Society traveled to Vietnam, where they spent a month drawing more than 3,000 caricatures of service people.[9]

For concerts by the Bay Area Little Symphony of Oakland, California, Turner drew pictures to the music and of children in the audience.[10]

Turner launched the first in a series of Summer Art exhibitions at the East Oakland Youth Development Center (EOYDC) on June 10, 1995.[11]

Turner married Letha Mae Harvey on April 6, 1946; they collaborated on "Soul Corner,"[6] the weekly supplement to Wee Pals. Morrie and Letha had one son, Morrie Jr;[12] Letha died in 1994. Late in life, Turner's companion was Karol Trachtenburg of Sacramento.[9] Turner died on January 25, 2014, at age 90.[13]

In 1967, cartoonist Bil Keane created the Family Circus character Morrie, a playmate of Billy and the only recurring black character in the strip, based on Turner.[14]

In 2003, the National Cartoonists Society recognized Turner for his work on Wee Pals and others with the Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award.[1]

Throughout his career, Turner was showered with awards and community distinctions. For example, he received the Brotherhood Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews and the Inter-Group Relations Award from the Anti-Defamation League of Bnai Brith. In 1971, he received the Alameda County (California) Education Association Layman's Annual Award.[15]

In 2000, the Cartoon Art Museum presented Turner with the Sparky Award, named in honor of Charles Schulz.[9]

Turner was honored a number of times at the San Diego Comic-Con: in 1981, he was given an Inkpot Award; and in 2012 he was given the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award.

• Morrie Turner at IMDb
• "Morrie Turner Collection: A description of the collection at Syracuse University". Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University. Archived from the original on March 21, 2014. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
• Harvey, R.C. (February 10, 2014). "Morrie Turner: To Say the Name Is Both Eulogy and Tribute". The Comics Journal. Fantagraphics. Archived from the original on October 14, 2014. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
• Oral History Interview with Morrie Turner. Via Internet Archive, from the African American Museum and Library at Oakland.
• Finding Aid for the Morrie Turner Papers, African American Museum and Library at Oakland.